July 2019 – Reducing Power through Silicon

Published on: 05/07/2019

Semiconductors have become the fundamental building blocks for designs looking to address power conversion challenges, discover how we’re reducing power through silicon

Semiconductors play a crucial role in improving efficiencies and driving down power consumption in two ways. Firstly, semiconductors can be engineered to operate with the lowest possible power. The low power capability is extremely important when it comes to the ultra-high-end processors deployed in advanced servers. And secondly, semiconductors can act as enabling technologies for improving efficiency and reducing the overall power consumption of a large sub-assembly or system.

For low voltage MOSFETs below 200V, RONA is dominated by channel resistance and fine surface planar gates, as used in large scale integration and memory devices which help to reduce losses. Extended MOSFET ranges such as trench gate and high-density gate structures are adding further options and technologies to the product portfolio. For higher voltage devices where drift resistance is the primary contributor to RONA, super junction structures are important factors in loss reduction.

Customers are always looking for more features to increase the drain on the battery, however as product form factors shrink, there is less space to add hardware to provide improved functionality, meaning less room for increasing the battery size to extend usable lifetime. Therefore, it is crucial that connectivity ICs operate with the lowest possible power consumption.

Careful selection of semiconductor technology can help engineers to reduce the power consumption of subsystems and applications. And with 40% of total electricity consumption coming from electric motors, making motor based applications more efficient could have a significant impact on global energy consumption.

Reducing Power through Silicon

IXYS offers a wide range of silicon carbide solutions including N channel enhancement SiC MOSFETs with 1200V and 1700V blocking voltage. Silicon carbide is a popular semiconductor material offering very fast switching, very low on state and switching losses and increased power density. IXYS’ silicon carbide range can be used achieving smaller and more efficient converters following the demand for higher bus voltages.

GD Rectifiers distribute IXYS’ core range of silicon carbide MOSFETs that are commonly used in high efficient DC-DC converters, solar inverters, inductive welding, high frequency inverter, power supplies, inductive hardening, UPS systems and supercharge solutions.

SiC MOSFET Six-Pack

For further information on IXYS’ Silicon Carbide Power MOSFETs please call GD Rectifiers on: 01444 243 452 or email: enquiries@gdrectifiers.co.uk.